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Redshirt junior guard James Bolden is not going to make the trip to No. 20 Iowa State after injuring his ankle and being forced from the Tennessee game.

The most recent in a string of injuries that Bolden has battled this season starting with his wrist and moving to his shoulder and hip which have combined to already cost him two games this season. This ankle issue will at least result in a third game off the floor.

A blow for any team to lose an experienced guard, but especially West Virginia as the Mountaineers have struggled mightily to find any semblance of consistency in the back-court as head coach Bob Huggins has cycled through a number of options at those spots.

Bolden has averaged 12.2 points and 2.5 assists per game and at times has been the only constant on offense for West Virginia, especially from the perimeter.

“We’re going to really miss him but on top of that he’s just been a great teammate. He doesn’t worry about if he’s starting or coming off the bench. He just wants to win so we’re going to miss him a lot,” Huggins said. “I’d be lying if I told you we weren’t.”

The decision not to make the trip was Bolden’s as he wanted to put his focus into receiving treatment from the medical staff in order to attempt to get back on the floor as soon as possible. It was a decision that Bolden reached after discussing things with the medical staff and determining that the best course of action would be to focus on treatment instead of dealing with a long flight which could increase swelling.

“He said ‘Coach I really want to play. It’s going to be better for me to stay here. I want to be with the team but at the same time I want to get back as fast as I possibly can so it would be better for me to stay here’,” Huggins said. “It was his decision.”

There has been no clear determination for when that will be but Bolden certainly is taking that treatment aspect serious. How serious?

“At 3 p.m. Erik (Martin) called him and said ‘hey man you need to get in the training room’ and Beetle said ‘Coach I’ve been in here since 11 a.m.’,” Huggins recalled. “He’s going to do everything he can possibly do to get back.”

Without Bolden, West Virginia will be forced to play a red-hot Iowa State club on their home floor without two of its best players if you include Sagaba Konate who hasn’t played since the Pittsburgh game with a knee injury. That will allow some others to jump into the mix and possibly earn a larger role.

“You bring in guys that can play here so they’re going to get an opportunity to play. They need to prove why they’re here and why they’re on the floor I guess,” Huggins said.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday night as the Mountaineers will look to try to engineer a turnaround after a 9-11 start to the season as the head coach was impressed with practice Monday.

“They were good. I think we got some things done,” he said.

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